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COMING SUNDAY

The Big Ten Conference expands to 12 teams on July 1 when the University of Nebraska is officially welcomed into the fold. To prepare Journal & Courier readers for the new-look conference -- and to introduce a new on-field foe -- look for our exclusive fan-centric special section on Nebraska, with on-the-scene reports and photos from the Lincoln campus.

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You now take for granted the glorious fall Saturday afternoon matchups in Beaver Stadium when Michigan and Ohio State visit Happy Valley.

Or, seeing a packed Rec Hall cheer on the five-time national championship volleyball team when another Big Ten powerhouse travels to the small Pennsylvania town.

There was a time when coach Joe Paterno didn't see the sun setting over the San Gabriel Mountains while standing on the Rose Bowl turf on New Year's Day. Prior to 1990, Paterno had never stepped inside Michigan's Big House or even Purdue's Ross-Ade Stadium as the Nittany Lions' head coach.

That changed more than two decades ago when Penn State joined the Big Ten Conference, allowing the nation's oldest league a window to the east.

"If you go back over time and look at the major expansions that have happened," Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said, "the addition of Penn State in terms of what they brought to the conference and what the conference brought to them from about every perspective stands up as if not the best addition, certainly one of the best additions in terms of a mutual positive effect."

Delany is biased, but it's difficult to argue that the inclusion of Penn State has raised the Big Ten's profile. The Nittany Lions have prospered in their new surroundings.

With the Big Ten set to welcome the University of Nebraska as the league's 12th member July 1, it's instructive to look back at how Penn State found its place in the conference.

Today, it's hard to envision the Big Ten without Penn State. Overall, the university has helped the conference build an East Coast presence, extending the footprint into the Philadelphia and New York television markets. Also, Penn State is no longer considered a regional university.

"I can't imagine not being in the Big Ten," said Graham Spanier, who has been Penn State's president since 1995. "It expanded our visibility. It's given us a broader recruiting platform, both for our athletic teams and our general admission to the university.

"It has put us in a peer group with some of the leading institutions of higher education in the country."

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Since beginning competition in 1991, 15 Penn State athletic programs have won or shared 57 Big Ten championships, a sign of the depth and quality throughout the athletic department.

"I think there are a lot of similarities culturally between Purdue and Penn State," Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke said. "People seem to be similar in the way they look at things. They're tough competitors but they're classy people."

Despite repeated attempts, current Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and Paterno were not made available for interviews.

Rough start

The idea of Penn State joining the Big Ten didn't happen overnight. The league's presidents and chancellors had ongoing discussions about Penn State since the early 1980s.

By the time Delany started as commissioner in July 1989, Penn State was on the fast track to become the league's 11th member. Six months later, the Big Ten extended an invitation to Penn State, but there were problems.

The main issue was that the league's athletic directors, coaches and faculty were not fully consulted. That caused tension among the groups.

It wasn't until June 4, 1990, that Big Ten presidents and chancellors officially voted Penn State into the league.

"The introduction of Penn State to the Big Ten wasn't as smooth as it could've been," Delany recalled. "I'm not sure the way we handled it was textbook. Any problems were not about Penn State. They were more about ourselves and how we handled our own business."

As Delany prepared to assume leadership of the Big Ten, presidents asked his opinion about adding Penn State.

"I could see nothing negative about it," he said.

Although relatively new, Delany laid out a time frame to the presidents. The conference power structure at the time rested with the athletic directors, who began hearing that the league's presidents were set to add Penn State.

"The last to know was the last to provide support," Delany said. "It was seen as a top-down decision, even though it was the right one. It was a time where presidential authority was not embedded in the conference -- and yet it was their call.

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"The athletic directors, coaches, and even faculty felt their points of view were not adequately represented. It's possible that's a fair interpretation. But it was the right decision made by the right group, but not in the best way."

More than one Big Ten athletic director spoke out.

"You don't add someone to the conference and not consult the people in athletics," Michigan's Bo Schembechler said in December 1989. "That was the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen done. I, and most of the other athletic directors in our conference, resent the way it was done, and if I offend some presidents, that's too damn bad."

By comparison, the process to add Nebraska was a unified effort by all groups within the conference structure.

Early days

For 112 years, Penn State's football program wasn't associated with a conference. The university's other athletic teams belonged to the Atlantic 10.

The move to the Big Ten forced the university to increase funding for all sports to match other conference schools. The nationally renowned women's volleyball program once offered three in-state scholarships. Then coach Russ Rose had 12 at his disposal.

"I went from having a part-time assistant to a full-time assistant," said Rose, who begins his 33rd season this fall. "I went from teaching 16 classes a year to teaching three or four classes a year. The opportunity to compete in the Big Ten enhanced us in that fashion."

From the beginning, Rose's teams took charge of the league. The Nittany Lions have won eight straight Big Ten championships, 14 overall and have a sparkling 353-47 record against conference opponents since 1991.

Penn State has won five national championships, including the last four.

"We were good before we joined the Big Ten, but never had the money to be great," Rose said. "If we had the money we would've won a whole bunch more championships.

"When we were in the A-10, we were beating a lot of the Big Ten teams. It wasn't that we couldn't compete when we joined the Big Ten. When we joined the Big Ten, it made us much better."

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New rivals

Paterno's football program didn't begin Big Ten competition until 1993, more than three years after the school was voted in to the league.

A regular season schedule that once featured Army, West Virginia, Syracuse and Pittsburgh dramatically changed. The Nittany Lions started to play Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State and Iowa on a regular basis.

"It's been an interesting transition over the course of time because we've developed new rivals," said current defensive coordinator Tom Bradley, an assistant on Paterno's staff the last 32 seasons. "Now that we've been in for a long time, we're starting to get this thing figured out and how everything works out in this league."

In its second season playing a Big Ten schedule, Penn State made the program's second Rose Bowl -- its first since 1923 -- following the 1994 season.

"That was pretty special," Bradley said.

Penn State has won three Big Ten titles, most recently in 2008.

Looking forward

More than 20 years later, Penn State continues to thrive with the help of the Big Ten.

Paterno remains on the sidelines and is ready for his 45th season. Don't count out Rose's volleyball program winning a fifth straight national championship, either.

"Forget about the fact that they operate with great integrity on the field, but it's one of the most successful athletic programs in the nation," Delany said. "It's always been a great fit."